An Iowa woman says she was belittled and treated unfairly at a Subway restaurant because she’s pregnant, when a worker told her he was too busy to accommodate her request to heat the deli meat on her sandwich. [More]
pregnancy
Couple Says Uber Driver Left Woman Stranded On NYC Sidewalk While She Was In Labor, Still Charged Her $13
By 1.12.16
If there’s one time in your life when you could really use a lift somewhere, it’s got to be when you’re preparing to birth a human being. But can an Uber driver who may be adverse to transporting a person in labor just leave you hanging? That’s what happened to one couple in New York City, who say that after the pregnant woman vomited on the sidewalk, their driver refused to give them a ride to the hospital… and charged $13 for the privilege of being stranded. [More]
EEOC Updates Rules Protecting Pregnant Workers For First Time In 30 Years
By 7.17.14
It’s been three decades since the last time the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission adjusted its rules protecting women in the workplace who are pregnant, might get pregnant in the future or have ever been pregnant in the past. This week the EEOC released updated rules against pregnancy discrimination, saying it’s against the law. [More]
Study: Driving While Pregnant Might Result In More Crashes
By 5.12.14
One of the main culprits blamed for car accidents is that dastardly villain, Distraction. And if there’s one time in her life when a woman might be just a wee bit distracted, it’s when she’s growing another human being inside her and dealing with all that that entails. Which is why, according to one study, a driver might crash more while pregnant than at other times in her life. [More]
Report: Employers Find Innovative Ways To Discriminate Against Pregnant Workers
By 6.19.13
Being pregnant isn’t a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but a 1978 law does specifically prohibit discriminating against pregnant workers. Women generally aren’t forced out of their jobs once their pregnancy becomes visible like they were in past decades, but that doesn’t mean that no one ever loses her job (and her health insurance) right at a time when she really needs it. [More]
I’m A Dude. Why Is My Health Insurance Adding Maternity Coverage?
By 6.5.12 — Updated: 11.5.12
Steven has health insurance through Anthem Blue Cross, a company that deals in direct-pay individual policies, instead of employer-subsidized group health insurance. A recent change to the plan adds a service, maternity coverage. (Yes, many direct-pay plans require you to buy insurance covering pregnancy and delivery separately, and before you get pregnant.) The problem? If he and his wife want to have a baby, he’s going to have to carry and give birth to it. The maternity coverage only applies to the policyholder, not their spouse or dependents. Pretty sweet if you’re a fertile woman with her own policy. Pretty useless if you’re not. [More]
Study: Obese Moms Birth Kids With Greater Risk Of Autism
By 4.11.12
Science continues to scramble for reasons that children become autistic. The latest straw to which researchers are grasping is that children whose mothers were obese during pregnancy have an increased risk of autism. [More]
Nutrients That Make You More Fertile
By 3.14.12
Superstition and junk science will recommend all sorts of foods to aid in female fertility. Although anecdotal evidence suggests that some of these will work, the best way for to increase your babymaking capabilities is probably to eat healthily. [More]
Study: No Amount Of Boozing Is Safe For Pregnant Women
By 1.19.12
The medical consensus holds that pregnant women need to stop drinking in order to avoid harming their babies, but some conventional wisdom and myths temper that advice with the understanding that an occasional drink is OK. The latter line of thinking — reflected half-mockingly in the latest episode of Justified — is false and potentially dangerous, according to a University of California San Diego study. [More]
Keep It In Your Pants Until You Double-Check Your Insurance
By 12.29.11
Maybe someday you’ll sit your future child on your knee and reassure him he was created with budgetary responsibility in mind. Those who check out the quirks of their health insurance policies beforehand and babymake accordingly will be able to do just that. [More]
Expecting Parents Can Share Their Excitement On Facebook, But Should They?
By 8.2.11
Last week, Facebook introduced a new feature that lets parents list themselves as “Expected: Child” in the “Friends and Family” portion of their profiles, adding in a due date and name. The feature gives expecting parents a way to share their news without the tedium of having to notify everyone they know individually, or having to set up a separate page for the baby. [More]
Study: Secondhand Smoke Increases Risk Of Stillbirths, Birth Defects
By 3.8.11
Those who smoke around pregnant women could be poisoning the fetuses, judging from the results of a a study that found exposure to secondhand smoke greatly increases the risk of stillbirths and ups the odds the baby will be born with defects. [More]
Restaurant Won't Let Pregnant Woman Eat From Kid's Menu
By 12.16.10
Pregnancy has a way of limiting your meal options, and you’d expect restaurants to be aware of dietary restrictions and food sensitivity among expecting clientele and make accommodations. But Andrew’s pregnant wife ran up against a strict local restaurant that wouldn’t bend its policy that items on the kid’s menu were only for those age 10 and under. This despite the fact that all she wanted was a grilled cheese, and the only place on the menu she could find the item was in the kid’s section. [More]
Morning Sickness Remedy Found To Contain Lead And Arsenic
By 2.16.10
Morning sickness sucks. And if you want to make it even worse, pick up some calabash chalk. The FDA is now saying the traditional morning sickness remedy — also called nzu, poto, calabar stone, mabele, argile or la craie — has been found to contain lead and arsenic. [More]
Congratulations, You're Pregnant! …With The Wrong Baby
By 9.25.09
Imagine waiting anxiously to hear whether your latest round of in vitro fertilization has resulted in a pregnancy after years of failures. Then you receive a call from your doctor: you are indeed pregnant, but the wrong embryos were transferred. Now you’re an unwilling surrogate for another family.
Giving Birth And Covered By Health Insurance? $22,000, Please
By 8.5.09
The individual health insurance market can be a scary place for Americans who turn to it for health coverage. If they’re accepted to a plan at all, patients often find that their coverage isn’t quite what they were promised, and limits and restrictions lead to high medical bills for covered services that aren’t really covered.
Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna: Sorry, Your Pregnancy Is A Pre-Existing Condition
By 5.29.08
Katlyn is having trouble getting health insurance because she just graduated from college and is 15 weeks pregnant. She’s found herself in an expensive situation.
Blue Cross of California Hates Pregnant Women and Sick People
By 3.23.07
The state of California is fining the company $1 million as a result. Not that that will help the hundreds of people who lost their coverage.
